Sunny Afternoon
by Loki21
Summary: It's a hot afternoon in Westchester. Beer, steaks and swimming pool.


sunny

Disclaimer: Of course, I own nothing X-Men or Marvel. Would I be here if I did?  
This is intended for fun only. Hope you like it too.  
  
*******  
Sunny afternoon  
  
  
"You sure you..." insisted the youg woman once again.  
  
She stood in the rec room, by the huge window, looking outside at her friends enjoying themself in the sunny afternoon. It was very tempting to just go out and join them. But it would be more enjoyable if he would go out as well.  
  
"You go, kid. I'm ok here," he answered, trying to keep his temper in check.   
  
Asking Wolverine once was remotly acceptable, asking twice was looking for trouble. Very few people tried and asked him three times the same thing, trying to convince him. It was a sure death wish which could make you wake up in the E.R. If you woke up, first thing. But since it was Marie, he tried his best to stay calm.  
  
Marie stared at the carpet in front of her for a second. She had tried everything to convince Logan to just go out and join the others around the swimming pool. She carefully avoided the word *fun*. Even the promise of a continuous cold beer refill didn't made him change his mind.  
  
"Allright, Logan. I'll stop bugging you," she announced, now headed for the door.  
  
"You didn't," came the low voice. But she was already out of sight.  
  
As soon as he heard the door slam, Logan took another seat, with a better view on the backyard. He didn't do it counsciously, but curiosity probably got the best of him.  
  
From his new view point, he could easily see everyone around the swimming pool. That pansy had even started the BBQ and was making a fool of himself trying to start it. Why he didn't use his laser trick, Logan couldn't tell and frankly, couldn't care.  
  
Not far from Scott and his BBQ were Ororo and Jean, sun-bathing on deckchairs. Eyes closed, facing the sun, they kept chatting. Sometimes one of women would say something and they both would burst out laughing. What could they be talking about, wondered Logan. But he didn't really care.  
  
His gaze then focused on the swimming pool, where right now the boys were  
showing off for the gals. Well, to Logan, the gals didn't have a run for their money. But what...  
  
Logan leaned forward on the edge of his seat, his eyes having just caught Marie. The special material of her clothes, very thin and resistant, allowed her to enjoy a sunny day outside without suffocating under layers of protective clothes and still protected her and her friends. But it wasn't Marie's clothes that got Logan's attention.  
  
No. Right now, she was giggling with her friends — Jubilee, Kitty — while trying hard to not peek at the brats showing off near by. Really, teenagers. Logan turned off the TV, threw the remote somewhere behind him as he walked out of the rec room. He had seen enough of this sickening happy-family set.  
  
He stopped in the kitchen for a cold one. Thirty seconds later, the refrigerator was almost ridden of all its content, but there was no sign of any beer.  
  
"All you have to do for a beer, Logan, is to walk out to the patio and help yourself," recommended Ororo.  
  
The tall woman started replacing the items in the refrigerator while Logan fumed, staring at the back door.  
  
"And all y'have to do for..." he grunted.  
  
"Spare me your remarks, Logan," cut Ororo. "It's the perfect sunny afternoon,  
everyone enjoying themself. Except you. And I will not let you ruin my day." On that, Ororo walked out, with the steaks she came in for in hands and a huge smile on her face.  
  
Logan glared at her while she walked out. Who was she to talk to him like that? He grinned interiorly. Well, he got a good look at her, didn't miss everything after all. A very good look, really. To bad she was out now. Shrugging, he walked away, no real destination in mind.  
  
So he ended up at the front door. Shrugging once more, he walked out towards the garage. If he remembered correctly, he had left an unfinished bottle of whisky under the driver's seat in his brand new old-jeep.  
  
Giving a seconde thought at the pansy's bike, he proceeded towards his antique jeep. Sure thing, he found the bottle under the seat and processed the remnant of it quite easily. Half a bottle of whisky would make a normal man rather drunk, but for him, it barely managed to make him feel hot.  
  
And wow, was it hot in that garage. Mentally ranting about Wheel's lack of foresight in planning a ventilation system in this place, Logan got rid of his jeans jacket. Now it felt better, with only a flannel shirt over his cotton t-shirt.  
  
Looking at his jeep, Logan mentally noted what would be needed to turn that pile of rust into something he could drive around. Sure, paint would have to be re-done. The seats weren't brand new either. Tires, yup, he would need to find new tires. But all in all, nothing the nearest junkyard couldn't provide easily... and cheaply.  
  
"Logan!" came a surprised voice behind him.  
  
"Finally got sick of your boy-scoot, Jean?" he joked, not even bothering to turn back to face the the red-haired woman.  
  
"Actually, I brought you a beer and we need more charcoal. It's in here somewhere..." Jean rummaged around in search of the charcoal.  
  
Now Logan turned to grab the so-welcomed cold one and to help Jean, so then he would be left alone faster. Wow, she really looked great in that swimsuit... Real great... even better at close sight than from the living room.  
  
Jean caught him staring at her. "You know, Logan. Think of it as a sneek-preview. For more, you only have to join us by the swimming pool." On that she strode away, the charcoal she came in for in hands and a huge grin on her face.  
  
Logan shook his head. Were the X-Woman teasing him? Yeah, maybe. Well, he couldn't but agree that if there was a man around to not stay cool at the sight of beauties walking around in swimsuit, it was him. As long as they didn't send the teenagers girls. Hey, he wasn't a pervert!  
  
Logan gulped down the beer. He got some refreshment from it. Maybe they would bring him more? So he leaned against his jeep and waited. Soon enough, the cold beer begged to be followed by another. And it started to get warmer in the garage. So his flannel shirt landed on the passenger seat.  
  
From here, Logan could hear them all chatting and laughing in the backyard. Marie's laughter. That sounded so great, to hear her laughing. He couldn't remember her really enjoying herself for real, ever. But then, that only proved that she could be happy without him, didn't it?  
  
Naw, Logan wasn't moving out of this damn garage and join them. Not even the magnificient beauties wearing less material on them than he dreamed of would lure him in the backyard; not even Marie would trick him into joining the group there. Logan was a man. No, a M.A.N. And this meant that he could harness his most basic instincts. Really. He could do that.  
  
But the cold beers... Logan shock his head. No, he would not fall for a beer. Even for the coldest and most refreshing beer...  
  
But then, all of a sudden, his nose twitched. Such a perfume, such a smell, he  
almost threw himself towards it on instinct. Like many men who had succeeded at keeping their instincts at bay, he had a flaw. And it wasn't what everyone thought. No, not at all.  
  
Allright, his nose, bodily odors, sent a very specific signal to some specific parts of his anatomy. That, he could (althought barely) manage. But his nose had also a special relation with another part of his body. His... stomach.  
  
And damn it if that wasn't exactly the smell of steaks on BBQ. Yup, he couldn't be wrong.  
  
That was it. The end of all resolutions, all thrown away as he strode out of the  
garage and around the mansion.  
  
There they were. Ah, heck, Logan's stomach was the winner, better get the best of it.  
  
*********  
  
Just as he rounded the corner and actually stepped on the backyward, everyone turned to face him and applauded.  
  
Yup, they flamin' applauded. Logan growled low and stared at them all. His gaze fell upon Wheels, who was trying hard to not smile so widely. Oh yeah, that damn telepath had him rigged from the start.  
  
"Glad you decided to join us, Logan," greeted the professor.  
  
"Very funny, Wheels," grunted Logan.  
  
Marie walked — oh so sweetly — to him. "I'm so happy you..." she started.  
  
"Y'all tricked me into it," he growled. But that didn't impress her, because she could see the corner of his mouth almost curve into a smile. Hack, he wasn't to get mad at Marie, would he?  
  
Logan looked around. Marie was looking great, the sun dancing on her skin. She would probably end up with sunburns, and love every minute of it.  
  
Jean and Ororo were back on their deckchairs, smilling sweetly at him — oh, not so sweetly after all, but just like two thieves who just grabbed the jackpot and got away with it.  
  
The teenager girls were giggling and the brats... well, the brats just wondered  
what the hell was all that fuss about.  
  
Scott. Logan's gaze fell on the pansy boy-scoot. Not exactly him, but the steaks providing Logan with a really craving stomach. In less time then it take to say so, Logan was pushing Scott away from the grill. For good measure, he poped out a single claw and aimed at the most bloody piece on the BBQ.  
  
"Hey! You can't!" came the general chorus. Logan thought he even heard Wheel's distinctive voice.  
  
"See if..." he started.  
  
"Logan," cut in Rogue. "You have to deserve it," she explained.  
  
"What t'hell are ye talkin' about, kid?" he asked, his patience reaching its limit  
pretty fast.  
  
"We all did something to deserve ours. You have to do as well," explained Ororo, barely restraining a laugh.  
  
"Yeah, and what did you all do?" As soon as he asked, Logan knew he should have just shutted up.  
  
"I asked you three times. THREE times to join us," pointed out Rogue.  
  
"No one would have got away with it but you," he whispered to her, but from the smiles on the faces around, they all got the point.  
  
"Ororo and I had to go and.. well. Try and convince you there was... better..." tried to explain Jean, blushing as she talked.  
  
"Our part was to show you what real men are about," laughed Bobby Drake.  
  
"You failed," announced Logan.  
  
"Yeah, and we, like, had to look at them!" yelled Jubilee, altought Logan was sure the gals really enjoyed their *role* in the plan.  
  
"So, tell us, Logan. What got the best of you and succeeded at... well... get you out in the SUN!?" Ororo's voice was full of under-statements about Logan's reluctancy at joining the group.  
  
"And he got his jeans jacket and shirt off!" someone added. But at this point, Logan didn't care who dared. They were having a ball at his expense: he knew he would get his revenge.  
  
Could he just answer the thruth, that it was... That not even Marie's pleading and the women's teasing had any part in it? That... the steaks on the grill had him? Poor Marie and the women's ego might just not survive it. And that wasn't good for his own either.  
  
"Ok. So I have to do somethin' to *deserve* my diner, right?" asked Wolverine, a dangerous glint in his eye, only Marie, being close, could see.  
  
"Like, enjoying yourself, Logan," suggested the professor.  
  
Logan didn't answer. Oh, he was going to enjoy himself, all right.  
  
He walked very casually towards the swimming pool then headed straight for the diving board. Upon reaching mid lenght of it, he turned and looked around, making sure everyone had a direct sight.  
  
"Allright, ladies and gents. It's.... pay back time," he growled for everyone to hear him.  
  
He slowly removed one boot. Taking his time and looking around, he threw it at Kitty who — didn't know she had it in her — gracefully caught it. The other boot soon landed in Ororo's hand.  
  
"Now, Logan..." started Scott, for once being the first to foresee on Logan's plan.  
  
"Check the steaks, One-Eye. I'll get mine bloody," cut back Logan.  
  
Now, it was time for the t-shirt to depart. Logan grabbed the edges and slowly, oh so very lowly, pulled it up over his chest, knowing very well the effect his chest had on females (taken or not).  
  
"Your steak's ready!" yelled Scott, in a vain attempt at changing Logan's mind. But a chorus of female voice hushed him.  
  
Logan grinned as he pulled his t-shirt over his chest and head, revealing a sight only Jean and Marie had the chance to witness before. Of course, it didn't have any effect on the brats; Scott fumed even more than the steaks on the grill.  
  
"That was a really good try, Logan. I think you now deserve..."  
  
Logan ignored Wheel's comment. That telepath had fun. Now it was Wolverine's time to *enjoy* himself.  
  
Soon, Logan's t-shirt was in Jean's hands. Scott was probably too busy restraining himself, he didn't say anything.  
  
As Logan's hands dropped — always so slowly — to his jean's zipper, a huge sound came out of the females around, all ages acting in unison.  
  
"WOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!" shouted someone. Was it Jean or Ororo? Or both?  
Logan couldn't say for sure, because the teenager girls laughters almost covered it.  
  
"That's enough!" finally shouted Scott, indignated. A man stripteasing on the diving board. Unheard of — well, in Scott Summers' book. And Wolverine doing it, well... it really had a sure effect on the women around. From his fiancée to the teenagers, they all STARED at Logan.  
  
Ignoring the males' indignant grunts, Logan worked on his jeans, always so slowly. They wanted him to get in the sun? Yeah, that he would do, in all his glory. Logan heard a general female gasp as he got a leg off the pants. It was soon followed by another as he finally freed his other leg from the jeans.  
  
Which jeans he threw at Marie, who, out of instinct (since her brain had already stopped to react) caught it, after a short but nasty fight over it with Jubilee and Kitty.  
  
"ENOUGH!!" yelled Scott, redying his visor.  
  
"I'll get more than one steak," announced Logan, ignoring the threat.  
  
"Ok, just... just you stop, now, ok?" bargained Scott, his voice almost pleading.  
  
Logan looked at the professor. "And all the cold ones I want, when I want," he added.  
  
"Agreed, Logan. Now, will you... please?" conceeded the professor.  
  
"I need stuff for my jeep..."  
  
"Whatever you want, Logan. Now, if you will..." insisted Charles Xavier.  
  
Logan grinned as he stepped down the diving board. Uncarring for the droling  
females around, he sat on a vacant deckchair, his glorious chest to the sun. Without even looking at Scott, he ordered, "Bloody steak. And two colds to begin with."  
  
For the rest of the sunny day, Logan really enjoyed himself, steaks and beers  
always available.  
  
Finis


End file.
